OTTAWA—If we were building a country today, would New Brunswick and Prince Edward Island be provinces?

Or would the founding fathers and mothers of 2012 see the merit in one large Maritime province, with Halifax becoming the Hogtown of the east and a more muscular player of 1.8 million people making common cause in attracting business, controlling provincial debt, reducing the bureaucracy and keeping jobs at home?

Three Stephen Harper-appointed unelected senators from the three provinces are resurrecting an old idea this weekend, calling for a Maritime union, pitching what could be called the Walmart approach to Confederation.

The joint proposal from Nova Scotia’s Stephen Greene, New Brunswick’s John Wallace and Prince Edward Island’s Mike Duffy is receiving a fierce pre-emptive pushback from Liberals here and in the region, but it doesn’t mean that the proposal won’t go beyond the august halls of patronage.

The status quo in the region no longer works, says Donald Savoie, a respected public policy authority at the University of Moncton.

He relates a well-known litany of woe.

New Brunswick is carrying a $183-million deficit; the unemployment rate in Prince Edward Island is 11 per cent.

The population is aging (according to one estimate 14 per cent is over 65); the region is served by more public servants per capita than any other region in the country; it is more dependent on federal transfers than anywhere else.

Oh, it won’t be easy, he says, there will be fights over the capital until it logically ends up being Halifax, two of the three premiers will be out of work, and it may not happen until Maritimers are forced by outside economic forces to come to grips with the situation.

But it’s just not going to happen, says Prince Edward Island Premier Robert Ghiz.

He says the trio have not consulted or done their homework and really don’t know what they’re talking about.

The Atlantic premiers are already co-operating, Ghiz says.

They have joined forces to buy school buses together, saving taxpayers $6 million per year.

The regional liquor commissions buy together, and they co-operate on health care, with Prince Edward Island working with health jurisdictions in Moncton and Halifax to deliver care, Ghiz says.

Ghiz, who will soon be both the youngest and longest-serving provincial premier, says his view is not a reflection of self-interest.

If a merger ever took place, he says, he would be long gone, and some realities of the region will not change just because a union creates one voice.

“If the three provinces do merge, does that mean there isn’t going to be oil in Alberta?’’ he says.

Ghiz does not believe the three men are stalking horses for Harper, but Liberal MPs aren’t so sure.

Mark Eyking of Nova Scotia, who is the chair of the Liberal Atlantic caucus, calls the proposal insulting and a throwback to Harper’s infamous “culture of defeat” comment about the eastern region.

“After downsizing government departments in Atlantic Canada, and with more cuts to come, it appears that this Conservative government is now planning to downsize three provinces right off the map,’’ Eyking said in a statement.

A Maritime union, or a variation on the theme, has periodically bubbled up over the years, but has never come close to fruition.

None of the three senators returned phone calls Thursday after Duffy got ahead of the announcement by granting interviews that allowed opponents to line up before it is even unveiled.

In one published interview he likened it to the big-box store theory in which lower prices are the result of bulk buying.

To move forward, the provinces must unite and bulk up, he says — leading to the Walmart dismissal by those in the region.

Savoie says change may not come until Maritimers come to grips with the reality of their fiscal situation.

“As long as we can afford the status quo, even if we have to borrow money to do it, then Maritimers will be quite comfortable.’’

The Harper senators might carry an important message, but if this Maritime ship hits the shoals it may be because of those steering the boat.

Tim Harper is a national affairs writer. His column appears Monday, Wednesday and Friday. tharper@thestar.ca

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